Digging into Mormon history in Wisconsin

Mary Jurgaitis

Published: Sunday, Aug. 2 2015 1:13 p.m. MDT

NEILLSVILLE, Wis. — Members of the LDS Church and historians in this central Wisconsin area are looking for journals, diaries, letters, sketches and other documents about early Mormon settlers from 1841 to 1845 for the annual Heritage Days later this year.

The Neillsville, Clark County, area is where lumber camps and sawmills were located that supplied the wood for the Nauvoo Temple and other buildings.

The group is also hoping to pinpoint exactly were the camps were and what life was like there.

A research paper written by Dennis Rowley, a former BYU librarian, cited journals and diaries, including one written by bishop George Miller. The Neillsville group has access to both papers but feel there is more out there.